Brightest of Shadows
by TheQueenOfWinds
Summary: Caught in the darkest period of his young life, a boy is transported to Heavenly Host in order to learn a valuble lesson, and to teach it to a certain ghost girl. What if your darkest of shadows was also your brighest of lights? (Main pairing SachikoXOC, other pairing AyumiXYoshiki)
1. Chapter 1: Yami and the Paper Doll

_**Brightest of Shadows Chapter 1: Yami and the paper doll**_

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**Hey everybody! So... I started really getting into Corpse Party over the last few weeks and I just couldn't help myself from writing a story! I always notice how lonely Sachiko seems and I thought I would put a stop to that! On with the story!**  
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_**There's a room where the light won't find you**_  
_**Holding hands while walls come tumbling down**_  
_**When they do I'll be right behind you**_  
_**So glad we've almost made it**_  
_**So sad we had to fade it**_  
_**Everybody wants to rule... The world...**_

_(Everybody Wants To Rule The World Cover by Lorde)_

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"Yami!" A deep voice resonated into the dark living room, soon followed by the horrific sound of shattering glass that tore through the dense silence that had manifested throughout the house. "Yami-kun, where are you?! Get out-... Get out here and take it like a man!..."

The source of the voice soon appeared in the darkened living room, carrying a limp body on their shoulder. It was a large, extremely overweight man with dark brown hair and brown eyes, carrying a limp woman over his shoulder, while in his other hand rested a broken saki bottle. He was loudly laughing in a manic fashion while his eyes shifted around, searching the dimly lit room for any traces of his target; of his young son.

"Come out, come out, wherever you are my son... I just want to play..." He chuckled, swinging the broken saki bottleneck around menacingly, almost as if silently promising his son the wait that awaited him should he decide to reveal himself while his father was in such a belligerent state.

Unfortunately Yami would never have time to even attempt reason with the drunken man, for mere moments after the last statement, the man came upon a closet door, and with a sick smile, the man ripped open the door, revealing a young boy that appeared as if he hadn't even reached his 9th birthday, with dark brown eyes and hair of the same shade that was both spiky yet possessed a bit of length to it. It didn't take a genius to tell that the boy was petrified.

"There you are Yami-kun... Your mother and I have been searching absolutely everywhere for you..." The man chuckled, brandishing his bottle in a threatening manner, each and every moment drawing closer and closer to the boy ready to seal his doom in blood.

Yami held his hands up in front of his face in a pathetic attempt to defend himself while his father's form eclipsed the moonlight streaming from outside through the window. "No... Please daddy... No... No!... NOOO!"

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The horrible recollection of the pain that his father inflicted on him was the first sensation that 7 year old Yami Tsukino felt surging through his body, startling the young boy awake. It only took a few moments of deep breathing and head shaking for Yami to regain his boundaries, although once his eyes adjusted to the dim light of the old looking classroom he found himself in, the last thing he wanted to do was take a look around.

The entire classroom looked as if it had gone through a bombing raid, an earthquake, and a great white shark feeding frenzy all in one day.

The day had started out innocently enough for Yami and his parents, it had been his last day of school as a year 1 elementary school student, and he had been looking forward to spending his summer vacation with his loving mother and father; that is until that night, when Yami's father reached for the saki. Yami's father had always possessed quite a harsh drinking problem, but tonight was different, that night he had ingested so much of the drink that instead of becoming the tipsy but still quite lovable man that Yami had grown accustomed to he had become angry and extremely violent. He had beaten his son and wife without even a hint of remorse.

As soon as his father had lost interest and wandered off, Yami, not wanting to take any chances with further beatings, stole his mothers cell phone off of the kitchen table and made a break for it; running as fast as his little legs could possibly carry him away from the hell that he had come to know as his home.

It was after a good half hour of running that he found himself standing in front of Kisaragi Academy, the local high school that Yami would always find himself in whenever he was bored; after all, who better to hang out with than high-schoolers that couldn't resist the face of an innocent 8 year old boy. Unfortunately, a heart wrenching feeling in his chest told Yami that his days of innocence were passed, and would never be coming back.

Still determined to find help for not only himself, but his mother who was most likely receiving more beatings, Yami ran into the school, urgently scanning each and every classroom for any signs of someone who could help him. Eventually he stumbled upon a few students along with their teacher inside of a classroom, all of them holding onto a suspicious paper doll that they ripped apart into different pieces. Once that happened all hell swallowed them, and Yami into its depths, knocking him out, bringing him here.

With a small sob, Yami buried his face in his hands, letting the tears slip between the cracks in his fingers, completely unaware of where he was or of the horrible danger that he was in...

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Saying that Sachiko Shinozaki was bored was honestly quite the understatement today. It wasn't like she was ever busy per-say, but there was usually more to do than what was available today. Ryou and Yuki had decided to ignore her for the day, Tokiko wasn't ever exactly in any sort of condition to speak to anyone, and Yoshikazu was a blockhead, and even if he wasn't Sachiko wasn't going to be speaking to the son of her killer any time soon.

It was this that caused her to wander around the halls of Heavenly Host, and so far she had only found a few people to scare. The first two were high school girls, both with chocolate brown hair and yellow and blue school uniforms; although she wasn't able to take in any more of their features before they saw her and decided to run for it, screaming as they went.

Still reveling in her previous scare, Sachiko hummed a random song that she had learned from a previous 'visitor's' phone as she wandered into a classroom, never even noticing the boy that sat in the corner until a small sob alerted her to his presence. Her face twisted into a kind hearted smile as she silently hid her scissors behind her back before asking. "Um hi? Who are you?"

Yami gasped and let his vision shot up towards the source of the voice, and felt his heart stop in both apprehension and curiosity as he gazed upon the young girl that stood in front of him with a smile on her face. She was obviously a resident of the school, as her tattered red dress and extremely pale skin decreed, although even this was not about to stop him from receiving help from someone; from anyone.

"Please?... Can you help me miss?..." Yami asked, completely unaware of the instrument of death being concealed behind the back of his soon to be murderer. "Please I just need someone to help me... It's really important..."

Hearing this, Sachiko giggled softly for nothing more than effect before scanning the boy up and down with her eyes. He looked decent enough for a 7 year old boy, with a few stands of his shaggy dark brown hair falling in front of his eyes; which were shining with tears. Sachiko sighed sadly as she thought about the joy of brutally murdering this child. She honestly didn't want to murder this boy, as he seemed nice, much different from all of the others who had ever visited this cursed ground, but if she didn't kill him, then her mother would be disappointed in her, wouldn't she? Then again, this was probably the first time she'd spoken to a living being in years.

"...What's wrong? What could possibly be more important than what you're doing right here, right now?" She asked after a few tense moments of silence, deciding to entertain the nagging feeling in her soul for a few moments before she continued on her mission to please her mother. What Yami said next though, caught even Sachiko Shinozaki off guard.

"My mother is hurt... If I don't get help, then she might go to heaven before she's supposed to!... Is there anything you can do?..." Yami asked, standing up so that he and Sachiko were at eye level with each other. Hearing this, Sachiko could no longer keep her grip upon the scissors that had previously rested in her hand, which were now impacting the floor with a soft clang.

"...Your mother?... Are you even aware of where you are right now?!" Sachiko growled, attempting to bury her sudden surge of sympathetic emotion behind a wall of fabricated anger. This boy was nothing like her! He could just be lying about his mother to get out of the situation he was in. Well if he thought he would pull one over on her then he had another thing coming; or so she thought.

"I don't care where I am, I just want someone to help my mom!..." Yami begged, once again catching the young ghost girl off guard, causing all of her faked anger to melt away as if a flamethrower had been pointed in the direction of a block of ice. "Please?... I'll do anything..."

"Anything huh?..." Sachiko muttered, letting her mind swim in thought. It would be nice to spend some time with someone that she wasn't chasing with the intent to kill, and the boy was nice. Her mother wouldn't mind if she just played with the boy for a bit first right? "Okay... I know how to help your mother... But only on one condition... I want you to hang out with me for a few hours, your mother will be all better when we're done."

"Absolutely!..." Yami cried out in joy, before sticking his hand out to Sachiko in a friendly fashion. "I'm Yami Tsukino! Nice to meet you miss?..."

Sachiko smiled softly, letting the last shreds of her humanity shine through as she gently shook Yami's hand. She was going to hate to have to murder him later. "Sachiko Shinozaki... Nice to meet you, too Yami..."

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**So yeah... Before I address anything else I should mention that I put a little bit more humanity into Sachiko because let's face it, she's kind of a nutbar in the game and anime so yeah... Until next time my minions!**


	2. Chapter 2: Naomi

_**Brightest of Shadows Chapter 2: Naomi**_

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_**Hey everyone! Um, so I got really involved with wrighting this chapter today so I got it up pretty fast. Don't expect every chapter to be up so quickly though sorry to say. Anyways, on with the chapter!**_

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"So Sachiko-san you're a ghost huh?" Yami asked, trying to strike up a conversation between he and Sachiko as both children strolled down the halls of heavenly host, past innumerable amounts of corpses and dying wishes scratched onto papers. It was all rather frightening at first for Yami, but for some reason he couldn't quite explain, with Sachiko walking alongside of him, he felt the fear wafting away into the cool musky air of the haunted school, never to see the light of day again.

"What was your first clue? My glowing pale skin, or my torn to hell dress?" Sachiko asked with a slight amount of hubris, although even she was not sure why her question came out in such a way; she had even surprised herself enough that she felt compelled to change gears and switch to a different subject as fast as she could. "Do you like the school? Mother and I do our best to-... Don't stand there."

Quickly registering what his new companion had said, Yami glanced down at his feet to find that he was standing in front of a large hole in the floor that appeared as if it went down forever, with no conceivable end in sight. Stopping as fast as his feet would allow, Yami fell back onto his behind with a small grunt while Sachiko rolled her eyes.

"Um... Sachiko-san?" Yami asked nervously as he peered down into the abyss once again; shivering in fear when he saw what he suspected to be a chunk of human flesh attached to a sharper section of the floor. Turning to Sachiko, who had also stopped walking in order to hear Yami out, the young boy continued in his questioning streak. "Can you fly? Like above this hole?"

"Of course I can, why?" Sachiko scoffed, crossing her arms in a show of distain, although in reality she wasn't annoyed with Yami at all; a first in over twenty years for any living soul, that much was for sure.

"Would you mind flying me over this hole please?" The young boy asked with a genuine smile on his face, while Sachiko stared blankly at him, her eyes boring into his soul. This boy was different, that much was for sure, but Sachiko wasn't about to sit around and ponder as to why. Instead she merely shrugged and nodded her head in affirmation before floating into the air, much to Yami's amazement. "Wow! That's so cool Sachiko-san, I can't believe how amazing you are!"

"...Arigatō..." Sachiko muttered simply, before floating behind Yami and sliding both of her hands under his arms. Without giving the boy much of a warning other than a small click of her tongue, Sachiko began to slowly raise Yami off of the ground, listening silently as he giggled in delight as she began to float across the large pit that separated the two different sections of hallway.

Sachiko couldn't help but to glance between Yami and the large chasm below her. It would be so easy, so easy to just release her grip on the boy and watch him fall into the darkness, where not even the other spirits would ever find his body. It would be another child for her mother to play with for all eternity. It would just be so easy to snuff out the little ember of life in Yami, to just let him fall; to just let him die.

But she didn't.

Instead she completed the flight over to the other end of the hall silently, letting Yami down on a stable and safe section of floorboard before landing next to him, accidentally letting a small sigh of confusion escape her ethereal lips. Her mind was absolutely racing with a myriad of thoughts that had not been present in her mind for years now. But that was not her primary concern; right now her primary concern was Yami and spending a few hours with him so that she could get her fix of humanity before she slaughtered him for her mother. That is if she could bring herself to do it.

Why was it even an issue for her? She had killed so many at this point, without even a hint of remorse or hesitation, letting her stabbing arm strike her victims true without giving them an inch of mercy or hope. It wasn't that she wanted to sap them of all hope before she ended their life exactly, it was more of a circumstance that if they possessed hope that they would live through her attack, then there would be a chance that they would not accept her mother's love for them, and that was a chance that Sachiko was not about to take.

She couldn't take it anymore, she had to get such thoughts from her mind. Deciding that it was useless to worry about such things until it was time to concern herself with them, Sachiko turned to Yami and braced herself, spitting out the first question that happened to fly out of her mouth. "So... Yami-san. What exactly happened to your mother?"

"She..." Yami trailed off as his eyes became downcast, something that did not pass Sachiko's peripheral vision, although she decided to ignore the change in Yami's demeanor as he continued his explanation. "My father was drinking saki and instead of becoming funny he became mean... He hit my mom and I until she couldn't stand up anymore... I hid and he carried her in to where I was hiding and hit me more... I ran away when he got bored, and ended up at my town's local high school for the big kids... I'm not sure how I ended up here though..."

"Your father deserves to _die_..." Sachiko whispered, bearing her teeth and clenching her fists as she imagined what sort of terror that her friend could possibly have gone through because of one man and a bottle of saki. Sachiko laughed darkly as she thought of this; she, the very being of terror and fear in Heavenly Host Elementary, was angered that someone was forced to live through something that most likely caused them terror. How ironic.

"It's not all bad though..." Yami pointed out as he shrugged dismissively, although the smile on his face which had previously vanished had now returned, giving off a sort of subconscious glow that very nearly mesmerized Sachiko. She wasn't about to let her emotions get the better of her though.

"Why not?" The ghost girl asked with a little more venom than she had originally intended, which resulted in her coughing softly in an attempt to change her tone to one that was more of a comforting one, rather than the dark malicious one she had grown accustomed to using. "What on earth about such a situation is good? As far as you know your mother could be dead, and your father could be the murderer! Doesn't that bother you?..."

"Well yes... But-... But at least I made a new friend. That's always a good thing!" Yami informed Sachiko, causing her to stop and tilt her head sideways slightly in curiosity in a silent attempt to have Yami inform her of who exactly he was talking about, but in the end she realized that she would need to speak up in order to learn who exactly had earned the title of friend in the boy's eyes.

"Who?" She asked, while simultaneously pointing at a nearby staircase, signaling that they needed to travel up them, a signal which Yami took, although His first concern was to answer Sachiko's question.

"_You_ Sachiko-san!" He said with an expression on his face that reminded Sachiko of herself whenever she received a special gift from her mother. No! He wasn't like her, she had to stop comparing herself to the boy next to her. If she didn't stop, she was relatively sure that she would be cutting this little play-date and Yami's life short before she had planned.

Suddenly, before Sachiko could even think to reply to Yami's completely unnecessary statement, a blood curling scream was heard from the classroom adjacent to both of the young children, and no more than a few seconds after that, a high school aged girl with short brown hair in a yellow and blue school uniform ran out of the classroom as fast as she could, followed closely by a tall and broad man that appeared as if he were no more than a walking shell.

"Hey! Blockhead, stop running! You're going to break the floor!" Sachiko ordered, prompting the massive zombie like man to freeze in his tracks, just as he caught up to the girl, lifting her off of the ground by her collar, so that she could do no more than struggle fruitlessly, swinging her arms and legs around like a crazy person.

While Sachiko didn't appear as if she was fazed in the slightest by the sudden appearance of the young woman, Yami's reaction was on another plane entirely. He knew this girl, and he knew her very well; this was the girl who had first invited him to hand out with she and the other high school students when Yami first started his little adventures into town. "Naomi-senpai?! What are you doing here?! Aren't you supposed to be at home?"

"Yami-san?! I could say the same for you! How on earth did you end up in this hell?!" Naomi cried, before finally noticing Sachiko standing next to Yami with a sick smile on her face. Building up air in her lungs, Naomi gave one last meaningless punch to the strange man, before shifting her gaze back to the two children watching her and bellowing out a warning to Yami. "Yami-san! _Get away from her; that thing is a ghost, she'll hurt you, just like one tried to hurt me earlier!"_

"Hurt me? What do you mean?" Yami asked in confusion, his head tilting slightly as he glanced over at Sachiko, who was currently glaring daggers at Naomi. "Sachiko-san? What's Naomi-senpai talking about?"

"The only person around here who's going to be hurt is you..." Sachiko uttered darkly, before producing a long pair of scissors in her hand, letting her grip tighten around it with such force that the metal was beginning to visibly give way to her ethereal granted strength. "As long as Yami is with me, then nothing is going to hurt him... I can't say the same for you though..."

"**Fuck you**! Let Yami-san go and tell me where Seiko is, and where Satoshi is, and where everyone is!" Naomi hissed in reply, seemingly unfazed by Sachiko's threat, although in truth she was absolutely terrified, but she just had to put on a brave face, if only for Yami's sake.

"Insulting me? Are you sure you should be doing that given the... Situation you're in?" Sachiko taunted, while running her scissors along Naomi's covered stomach with agonizing slowness, letting the tip of the cutting tool catch on several of the school uniforms threads.

"Wait, Sachiko-san, don't hurt her! She didn't do anything wrong..." Yami begged, stepping in between Sachiko and what would have been her latest victim, causing the young ghost girl's eyes to widen in considerable surprise, although she regained her composure rather quickly, only to catch a glimpse of Yami staring at her, his hands curled into a ball in front of his chest. "Can't you just let her live?..."

"..._Fine_..." Sachiko finally grumbled after a few seconds of silence, before she turned to face the zombie like man holding Naomi. Why was she listening to this boy? This was becoming a major issue for sure, and her mother would be less than thrilled to know that not only one, but now 2 potential new eternal friends were being held away because Sachiko had decided to spend time with one of them. Well she had a way to fix that, and it involved this Seiko girl; whoever she was. "But I'm not letting her off so easily, wait here, Blockhead and I are going to go and find this Seiko girl and... Reunite them..."

"But-..."

"_Wait here_..." Sachiko ordered once more, before silently ordering the man she referred to as 'Blockhead' out of the room, following closely behind. However before she left she couldn't help but to turn her head to give Yami a small, but genuine smile; small as it may have been, before following the man and Naomi down the hall, leaving Yami alone with nothing more than his thoughts...

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**So I hope you all enjoyed that little chapter, and I hope you enjoy all the future chapters to come! Until next time my minions!**


	3. Chapter 3: The Real Me

_**Brightest of Shadows Chapter 3: The Real Me  
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**Hey everybody! So I got a pm from someone asking when all of these events are taking place and I just want to clarify that while it is currently following the canon of the first game it will eventually branch off into its own canon. Hope this clears up any confusion, so without further ado, onto the chapter!**

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It was only a few minutes before Sachiko returned to the classroom where she had left Yami, and she had received an interesting surprise when she did finally enter the room, after silently standing outside of the door for at least a good 5 minutes with her thoughts.

In the time that she had been gone, which was 20 minutes at the most, even if the time that she was gone was extended in the slightest by her standing outside of the door, Yami had somehow not only found himself a piece of chalk, but was now slowly and methodically drawing an extremely detailed picture of none other than he and Sachiko flying over a large fissure in the ground. Obviously just a reference to the gap in the floorboards from earlier, but that did little to quell the surprise that shot through the young ghost girl.

"Um... That's-... That's actually very good..." Sachiko muttered without even realizing it, alerting Yami to the presence of his new friend behind him, prompting him to turn around with a huge smile on his face, which had been dusted white from the left over chalk.

"You like it Sachiko-chan? I made it just for you!" Yami explained with a sort of innocent pride in his voice that Sachiko hadn't heard for years; the pride of a child trying to impress a crush or a new friend. Unfortunately, before Sachiko was able to think of a suitable response to her new friend's question, he decided to throw another one at her, one that caught her completely off guard; something that was becoming quite commonplace around him. "Hey... Sachiko-san? Why did you make all of those people ghosts? Did they do something bad?..."

"H-... How do you know about that?!" Sachiko shrieked, her eyes flaring up in a purple tint as she moved on the defensive, while her powers slammed all of the doors in the room shut, at first frightening the boy standing at the chalkboard, although his demeanor quickly shifted back to one of calm happiness.

"I told him..." A voice from the other side of the room uttered, shifting Sachiko's attention to the southern wall, where a ghost girl with a missing eye stood, nervously clutching her hands in front of her flat chest, all while Sachiko sent a glare her way that would have killed her, had she not already been dead. "Hello Sachiko-san... Miss me?"

"Yuki-san! Why the hell would you tell him that?!" Sachiko screeched, teleporting over to Yuki, trying to get in her face in an effort to have Yuki call herself a liar.

"I figured he should know... After all, you_ are _the reason we're all here in the first place..." Yuki explained, completely unfazed by Sachiko's threatening approach; after all Yuki was already dead, how much more could Sachiko possibly do to cause her any forms of pain, especially considering that Yuki was no longer afraid.

"And that doesn't mean that I'm allowed to do what I want?! I don't recall my mother giving you power over my actions! Now let me spend time with my new friend!..." Sachiko's rant stopped nearly as fast as it had started when she realized what she had said, to which she could only supplement her mistake with, "Oops..."

"Friend? I thought you said you never wanted to have any friends who are still alive?" Yuki hissed, letting spiritual fire erupt in her remaining eye while she moved even closer to Sachiko, making the ghost girl back away from another spirit for the very first time. "Why don't you just kill him Sachiko-san... Like you killed all of us like the monster you are..."

"Um... I'm still here you know!..." Yami chimed in nervously, clanking up almost immediately afterwards when not only one but two glares were sent his way by both Sachiko and Yuki, although Yami's gaze was inadvertently drawn to Sachiko in particular, and that was when he noticed it; the deep sadness, regret, and even loneliness resting in her eyes like a virus.

"No..." Sachiko muttered, turning back to Yuki as she clenched her fists in a way that told Yuki that if she continued her current path, she would get nowhere in damaging Sachiko's emotions. "I'm not going to hurt him, and that's final!"

"Fine... If you won't kill him then I'll send him back to his world so that you can't talk to him! You don't deserve friends!" Yuki shrieked, visually preparing to lunge at Yami, only to be blocked by Sachiko, who was now radiating with a mysterious dark power that enveloped her body like a shroud of malevolence.

"You so much as touch a hair on his head and I'll cut your tongue out all over again you-..." Sachiko froze when she finally put the pieces together. Yuki hadn't been able to speak since Sachiko had killed her; how on earth did was she speaking now? Sachiko knew the answer to this question, although she sorely wished she hadn't; Yuki's tongue was back in her mouth, appearing as if it had never been removed from her mouth by Sachiko scissors in the first place. "Wait just a minute! How did you get your tongue back?!"

"A nice girl that shares your last name, along with her friend, returned it to me... But that still doesn't excuse what you've done; and I'm not going to let you do it to anybody else!..." Yuki said before walking over to Yami and placing a solitary ethereal hand on his shoulder, causing him to shiver slightly at the lack of warmth coming from Yuki's hand. "Go on Sachiko-san, tell Yami-san why you kill so many innocents... Does he know why, or who, you do it for?"

"I-... I just need to make her happy! No one else ever gave a damn about me! I'm not going to let her down!..." Sachiko finally admitted as the power she had been calling on dissipated, while small tears slowly began to form in her eyes, the first tears that she had experienced in so many years. Sachiko hated the feeling, tears were for weak little girls, not powerful spirits such as herself. Why did she have to be a little girl as well?

"You let her down a long time ago Sachiko-san..." Yuki muttered quietly, watching with a sad frown on her face as Sachiko silently mumbled to herself, wandering around the room, before glancing back over towards Yami and Yuki just in time for Yuki to say, "You're nothing but a monster..."

Yami couldn't even believe his eyes as he observed Sachiko, his first friend in this strange school, mentally breaking down directly in front of him. He wanted to do something, anything, to help Sachiko in her time of need. He wanted to run over and just hug her and tell her that everything was okay, but something prevented him from moving a muscle. Whether it was Yuki's power or his own nerves he would never know however.

Meanwhile Sachiko, who had retreated to the door, stumbled as she used her powers to release the spell on the door that trapped the three occupants before she finally gave up on holding back the tears that had been threatening to spill over, sobbing loudly as she felt the salty liquid drip down her cheeks. Before either Yami or Yuki could say anything to console Sachiko, she was already gone, rushing down the hallway at incredible speed, not even bothering to close the rickety door behind her, leaving Yami and Yuki back in the classroom.

"Wait! Sachiko-chan, come back!..." Yami cried as he found the strength to break out of the hold that had previously overcome him, before running full tilt over to the doorway that lead out into the hall, unfortunately by the time that he arrived Sachiko had vanished completely, along with any signs that she had ever been there in the first place. Growling harshly in what was most likely the first time in his life, Yami whipped his vision in the direction of Yuki, who was staring fixedly at the chalk picture of Yami and Sachiko. "That was just plain mean... If she says she won't hurt me then I trust her, and I understand you must be angry for what happened to you, but what if Sachiko-chan is actually a nice person under the anger that she has to keep up because people like you always insult her!"

"I know what I said was mean, but someone had to tell her that what she was doing was wrong, and this is the first time I've been able to speak in so long!" Yuki stated, more out of spite than anything else, but she still couldn't risk anyone else falling into the hands of Sachiko.

"I still think you could have told her in a nicer way... She doesn't seem like she's all that evil..." Yami mumbled as he crossed his arms over his chest, before walking out of the classroom and out into the hall with the intent to find Sachiko, where-ever she had run off to.

"She is; she will wait until your guard is down... And she'll brutally murder you..." Yuki said, not moving any father than the doorframe, fearing that Sachiko could possibly be waiting in the shadows.

However, Yami was unfazed by Yuki's warning. "Then I'll take my chances... She's my friend, and I won't let my friend be sad..."

"I wish you luck then Yami-san... God knows you'll need it around Sachiko-san, you poor innocent minded child..." Yuki whispered as she observed Yami walking off into the halls in search of Sachiko...

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Yami was sure he had been walking for hours on end by the time he finally found himself back at the classroom he had left in search of Sachiko. Throughout his entire trek he had passed corpse upon corpse that were both old and new. Eventually he found himself at the school infirmary, and consequently, Sachiko, who was sitting on one of the infirmary beds, not facing Yami.

"...Hey... Sachiko-chan?..." He tried nervously, cautiously drawing over to the ghost girl with a little more apprehension than he would have desired, but who could blame him after Yuki's grim warning to him, especially considering he was only a boy up against a ghost; friend or not.

"What are you doing here?... Didn't you hear what Yuki-san said?..." Sachiko responded without even bothering to turn around to acknowledge Yami. "I'm just a murderous monster..."

"I don't think you are..." Yami mumbled under his breath, although despite this, Sachiko was still able to hear Yami's statement.

"You don't?..." Sachiko responded meekly, finally turning to Yami for the first time since he had first entered the infirmary; and it was then that Yami saw that Sachiko's face was stained with tears. "Why wouldn't you Yami-chan?... I'm the cause of all of these peoples suffering..."

"Isn't there some way you could reverse it?... Any way at all?..." Yami finally asked, before sitting down on the school infirmary bed next to Sachiko, and surprisingly instead of moving away Yami noticed that Sachiko had in fact shuffled closer to him to the point that their shoulders were touching ever so slightly, although Yami registered this as no more than Sachiko accidentally moving towards him while she was thinking.

"Well yes it would be pretty simple to do but-..." Sachiko trailed off as new tears formed in her eyes, supplementing the already miserable looking girl even further. It was then that Yami noticed it; Sachiko's eyes. They were no longer filled with hatred, cynicism, or even the slightest hint of malicious intent; rather they seemed like they had been injected with the first dose of life they had experienced in a very long time.

"But what?..." Yami asked after a few awkward moments when he realized he had been staring into Sachiko's eyes for quite some time.

"My mother... If I don't keep bringing her new people to play with then she might lose herself and... And I just can't disappoint my mom!..." Sachiko wailed, never even registering that Yami had been staring into her eyes for the last few seconds, since by the time that she glanced over at him once again his eyes had already reverted to their previous position, staring at the wall beside them.

"That's the thing about mothers though Sachiko-chan..." Yami mused, smiling softly as he and Sachiko finally looked each other in the eye for the first time since Yami had entered the room. All the while, tears were beginning to well up in Sachiko's eyes once again. "No matter what you do, you can never disappoint them... I bet your mother would be proud of you whether or not you bring her new people to play with... She loves you no matter what..."

Sachiko could only fling her arms around Yami's neck and cry loudly into his chest, letting her true emotions take over... Just this once...

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**So I hope that you all enjoyed this chapter! Don't worry, the story will include some actual romance in it soon enough, but for now I must continue to write! Until next time my minions!**


	4. Chapter 4: You've Changed Me

Brightest of Shadows Chapter 4: You've Changed Me

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**Well I guess I had better actually Update this story every once in a while! Once again I should tell you all that I made Sachiko just a little more sympathetic than usual because, again, she needs crazy pills in the anime and games. On with the chapter!**

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"Are you _sure _you want to do this Yami-chan?... This is the last opportunity you'll have to back out of this, because once we find my mother, neither of us can escape... I haven't seen her in so long for that exact reason... Again, are you sure about all of this?..." Sachiko warned Yami with an air of apprehension in her voice as the two walked down the hall and up a large flight of stairs hand in hand.

"Yes, I want to meet your mother; it'll be nice to meet the woman who raised you." Yami did his very best to encourage Sachiko with no more than words, although in reality his focus was not on the conversation at all. Rather it was focused on his hand, which was intertwined with Sachiko's in such a way that if her friend's skin was just as pale as hers then Yami most likely wouldn't even be able to tell the difference between the two hands.

"...Yeah..." Muttered Sachiko as a small but solemn smile as she silently remembered the cornucopia of fond memories that rested within her subconscious, only to be thrust back down again, quickly replaced by the horrific memories of both her mothers and even her own death.

"Hey Sachiko-chan?... Can I ask you a question?" Yami inquired, snapping Sachiko out of her self induced trance in a matter of moments, giving her just enough time to listen to and absorb Yami's initial question.

"Yeah, go ahead, you're probably going to ask anyway even I tell you no so..." Sachiko mumbled sarcastically, however Yami would have been a fool to miss the ever so slight laugh that passed through his ethereal friend's lips, however it was not the same sort of laugh that he had heard when Sachiko and he had first met. No, instead of the insane laughter that had flown out of her mouth previously, her laughter was now genuine, and sounded sweet, almost blissful even.

"Good point." Yami responded with a laugh of his own in return, before his features fell into a state of despair, which prompted Sachiko to glance over and tilt her head sideways in confusion. "Sachiko-chan... How did you die exactly?... I know that ghosts don't usually become-... Well ghosts, if they die naturally so... I mean did you die _naturally_ or..."

Yami trailed off when he noticed that his friend's pace had slowed down by quite a considerable level, along with her mouth which had previously been tilted into a small yet natural smile, now had fallen to a depression emitting frown that caused "It-... It's kind of hard to talk about Yami-chan..."

"I'm sorry I didn't realize-..." Yami began, however he was soon cut off by Sachiko who, to the surprise of Yami, closed the distanced between them even more to the point that Sachiko's torn up red dress frequently caught on the string on Yami's hoodie, a distance that Yami had never experienced with anyone besides his parents before; although being 8 years of age didn't exactly help matters of life experience. Never the less it was still a strange feeling, however it was not unpleasant, but Yami let it slide for the time being.

"No, it's okay..." Sachiko whispered before she guided Yami over to the wall and directed him to sit down, planting herself next to him shortly afterward before she began to explain the tale of her demise to her new friend. "I used to be a student here at Heavenly Host, and my mother was the schools nurse... All of the kids loved her and would sometimes even fake being sick to say hello to her."

"Wow... Your mom sounds like she was popular. Guess you didn't get many sick days off though huh? She probably just saw right through it!..." Yami chuckled as he rubbed the back of his head. "Sorry about the interruption... You can continue if you want to Sachiko-chan..."

"Alright... Well on my 7th birthday my mother and I were planning to go out to celebrate with a big dinner... She had given me a special stuffed cat and I had it with me all day in school, but I forgot it in my mom's office near the end of the day because I was in a hurry to get to class; I wasn't worried though, I knew I would be meeting my mom there at the end of the school day anyway so I just let it go until then... But then at the end of the day when I went to go and see my mom so that we could go out and I could get my stuffed kitty back-..."

Sachiko trailed off as tears appeared in her eyes, and Yami not knowing what else to do acted on instinct and pulled Sachiko close to him, letting her head rest on his chest. Only after this action was completed did Yami realize exactly what he had just done, however instead of being pushed away from his friend, he instead felt Sachiko attempting to get comfortable of all things! She gently rubbed the side of her head into his sweatshirt and sighing, before she continued the story.

"When I arrived... I found-... I found my mother lying on the floor with her neck broken and the principle of the school standing over her... He had _murdered_ her and when he saw me he-... He-..." Sachiko said not another word; instead she lifted her long hair away from her next to give Yami a few of the discolored skin that circled her neck in an ominous ring.

"S-... Sachiko-chan I-..." Yami swallowed when he finally realized what Sachiko had omitted from the story. She had been strangled to death in front of her mother's dead body. Letting his instincts take over for what seemed to be the umpteenth time since he had arrived at the haunted school, Yami gently placed a hand on Sachiko's neck and softly rubbed on the scars, while silently letting out a breath when he realized Sachiko was calming down quite a bit thanks to the attention to her neck.

As Yami silently rubbed the scars on Sachiko's neck, he couldn't help but to let his thoughts drift back to the events that brought him to Heavenly Host in the first place. He was still extremely concerned for his mother's wellbeing, worried that in his drunken state that his father would end up killing his mother accidentally. He bite his lip as he tried to focus on the ghost girl in front of him; he couldn't do anything about his mother for the moment, so he would have to settle for comforting Sachiko for now. Not that he minded.

The two stayed like that until Sachiko finally calmed herself once again...

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It was only a few minutes before the two friends were on their way once more, jovially laughing and joking as they traveled down the hall, never even noticing the gruesome scenery around them. Anyone who saw them probably thought that they weren't even there, but were just projections of happiness sent to torture them further; far from the case for the two children. They had even managed to break into the schools kitchen, and after a few little tricks from Sachiko, both were enjoying a small bento box that Sachiko kept floating about a foot in front of them with her powers, giving them full use of motion without encumbering them with the box of food.

"So one other question if you don't mind..." Yami asked after he swallowed a mouthful of rice, while Sachiko smirked, before rolling her eyes playfully.

"What?" She asked, before taking a piece of grilled fish and popping it in her mouth, savoring the taste before she let it slide down her throat. It was the first time she had eaten in years and boy was it a welcome return to say the least!

"Why don't you smell... I don't know... Bad?" Yami asked with the grace of a dead fish, catching Sachiko by surprise to such a degree that she nearly spit the chunk of grilled fish right back out, although she was able to keep it down thanks to the muscles in her throat, which had mysteriously been worked ever since Yami had rubbed her neck.

"_Excuse _me? That's kind of rude Yami-chan!" Sachiko giggled, smacking his shoulder with her elbow playfully while Yami laughed nervously, thinking that he had truly angered Sachiko with his last comment.

"No! No! I just meant its funny because all of the other ghosts and that zombie guy and I-..." Yami was suddenly cut off by Sachiko's laughter, which had grown in volume considerably; it was obvious that Sachiko was having an amazing time. Probably a rarity for her in a hellish place like this; voluntary or not.

"It's okay Yami-chan, I understand your confusion... I may be dead, but that doesn't mean I don't like to be clean. I use the working showers to clean myself off every day." Sachiko explained with a sense of accomplishment in her voice. She secretly took pride in her diligence when it came to her cleanliness, and while it was usually little more than another task to take away from the boring repetitiveness of each and every day, she absolutely loved being complimented in such a cute, yet slightly bizarre way.

"So I guess that means... You're the first ever ghost to care about personal hygiene?" Yami smirked, only to dodge a possessed flying rice ball only a second or two later, sent from Sachiko who had returned to the floating bento box, pouncing on the grilled fish like it was comprised of gold and diamonds.

"Would you rather I smell like a dead rotting rat?" She asked with an as-a-matter-of-fact tone, although Yami could have easily missed the underlying joke thanks to the effects of the fish that stuffed Sachiko's mouth to the brim.

"Good point... Sorry about the weird question Sachiko-chan." Yami chuckled, before taking one of the rice balls that still remained in the bento box, popping it in his mouth with an audible sigh of happiness.

"Yeah well you should be!" Sachiko quipped sarcastically before she and Yami burst into laughter, both with their mouths full of food, which caused whatever was in their mouths to end up on the floors of the school with little to no regard from the two children who were happily strolling down the halls.

Suddenly, a scream tore through the previously quiet halls of Heavenly Host Elementary, giving Yami's heart quite a run for its money in surprise. However the scream itself was not what disturbed Yami; rather it was the owner of the voice, and she was crying out as loudly as she could, _**"SEIKO! NOOOOOO!"**_

"Hey do you hear that Sachiko-chan?! That sounded like Naomi-senpai!" Yami yelled, trying to pull Sachiko along, however she would not budge an inch; she knew what they would find, and the last thing she wanted was to put Yami through such a horrible experience. How laughable; she would normally relish more than one person being horrified, but with Yami she just... Couldn't do it.

"No... That couldn't have been her! Come on let's go-..." Sachiko tried, thinking about taking Yami away from the area by force if need be, but just as she was about to summon her powers to do just that Yami said something that caused Sachiko's mind to completely draw a blank.

"Please Sachiko-chan, we need to help them! _Please_! I would never abandon you if I heard you screaming like that, can't we just help her?!" He begged with an increasing air of desperation in his voice. Sachiko hated to hear it; Yami was the one person in this school that she didn't want to suffer, so why on earth was his happiness connected with those students?

Suddenly another scream echoed throughout the hallways, causing Yami to jump in surprise, followed by quickly pulling Sachiko towards the screaming while she glanced around nervously for her minion, whom she had ordered to stay nearby; however he was nowhere to be found probably off playing with whatever bugs he could find. "Come on Sachiko-chan keep running, we have to go help them before something bad happens!"

Eventually Yami and Sachiko, the latter being pulled along by the former, finally arrived at the girl's bathroom on one of the uppermost floors of the school, and before Sachiko could stop Yami from entering the bathroom, he had already rushed forward, and had stopped running almost as suddenly as he had started.

In full view to both Yami and Sachiko was Naomi, crying out desperately as she attempted to hold a body up in the air which was hanging by its neck by way of a rope that was attached to the ceiling. That was not what unsettled Yami however, rather it was the person Naomi was attempting to prop up; her very best friend Seiko Shinohara, and she appeared as if she was on the brink of death.

"Naomi-senpai!... Seiko-senpai?! _No_!" Yami turns to Sachiko, who's eyed widened in surprise when her friend grabbed her by the shoulders and began to gently shake her, not so much as a method of force, but rather an attempt to get her to pay attention to him, ignorant to the fact that she had barely taken her eyes off of him since he found her after the incident with Yuki. "Sachiko-chan, can't you break that rope somehow?! Please, help her!"

"Huh? Yami-san?! Help me! _HELP ME_!" Naomi cried, finally noticing Yami and Sachiko standing there, although she intentionally decided to omit greeting Sachiko in any way; after all she was a ghost, and a gut feeling told her that this particular ghost had something to do with them all being trapped there. That didn't mean she was above getting Yami's help however, no matter how incompetent he would be in the situation at hand.

"I-..." Sachiko stopped and glanced down at the floor as she silently pondered how in the world she could possibly feel such guilt after so long. It stung quite a bit, not because she felt bad about hurting this random girl, rather the source of her guilt was the sorrow filled look that was present on Yami's face. Sachiko glanced between all three of the school's 'guests' as she thought about not only her own death, but even her mother's. Maybe she wouldn't mind if she just saved one more, after all 3 students wasn't a large number, especially considering that Sachiko was actually actively against hurting Yami at this point. "I-... Fine I'll get her down from the stupid rope just-... Stand back..."

Sachiko waited for a few moments for Yami and Naomi to step back before she pulled out a pair of scissors from her dress, taking aim for a moment before she threw her scissors at the rope with razor like precision which sliced through the tough rope like a hot knife through butter, instantly freeing Seiko, saving her from an eternity of pain.

It was only after a few moments of sputtering and coughing that Seiko finally regained her senses, letting her eyes slowly open to come face to face with Naomi, who was letting Seiko use her lap as a pillow. However what happened next surprised everyone except for Sachiko.

Seiko's eyes bulged out of her head when she finally realized who's lap her head was resting on, and shortly afterwards she let out a scream that nearly gave Yami a heart attack; however before she could pull herself to her feet to make her escape, she was suddenly lifted into the air, before she was sent slamming against a wall, giving Sachiko a chance to speak.

"Oh would you please just _shut the fuck up_?!" Sachiko yelled in a horrific voice, which almost instantly ceased Seiko's screaming while Yami and Naomi watched in surprise, the former amazed at the malice and distain that Sachiko's voice alone was showing. "If it's not obvious enough your little friend just saved your life, and you're going to scream when you see her? _Ungrateful bitch_!"

Yami, deciding that he could take a chance at calming Sachiko down, shuffled up behind the ghost girl and put a solitary hand on her red cloth clad shoulder. "But Sachiko-chan, you saved-..."

"Please just be quiet Yami-chan..." Sachiko muttered, cutting off Yami, however she did not flinch away from Yami's touch, in fact it appeared as if she was actually welcoming the feeling of Yami's hand on her shoulder. Her voice had returned to its normal state once again; more likely from Yami's presence than anything else.

It was then that Yami finally realized what exactly Sachiko was doing by lying to Seiko. He suspected that Sachiko most likely didn't desire the credit for saving Seiko, however he was completely unaware of the real reason that Sachiko was putting the credit for saving Seiko on Naomi, and she sincerely hoped he never would find out...

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"So how're you feeling Seiko-senpai?" Yami asked as he wrapped a bandage around Seiko's neck, while Naomi and Sachiko stared at each other with an air of awkwardness that would have been quite entertaining if it hadn't also been so intense at the same time.

"A little better... I think my neck is going to be bruised for a while though..." Seiko muttered sarcastically, trying her best to crack a smile despite the intense pain it caused to move even the slightest muscle.

"_God Seiko_!... I was so worried; _don't you dare ever do that to me ever again_!..." Naomi begged, taking over with Seiko's care, giving Yami the opportunity to wander back over to Sachiko, who smiled widely upon seeing her new playmate return, although the smile quickly dissipated in favor of a concerned frown.

"Yami-chan... Can I ask you something?" She whispered, turning her entire body to face Yami, while also psyching herself up for her confession soon to come, while Yami glanced at her in confusion.

"Of course... What's up Sachiko-chan?" He asked, his ever present innocence shining through once again, causing Sachiko to force herself to not smile; he was making her happier and happier by the second.

"How did you do it?..." She asked, biting down on her lip softly in an attempt to ward off any smile that would even think of having the audacity of creeping onto her face.

Yami however was completely obvious to the subject of Sachiko's question; instead assuming that she was speaking of the incident that had happened only a few minutes prior. "How did I do what? You mean wrap the bandages around Seiko's neck? Well what you do is-..."

"No... How, after 50 years of being nothing more than a monster, did you... _Break through_ to me..." Hearing Sachiko say this, Yami by chance glanced into her eyes, only to find that her eyes, which had previously been no more than a dull and lifeless conduit of sadness for the poor girl were now sparkling majestically with what Yami could only describe as pure living euphoria.

"I don't know how... But I'm glad I could at least..." Yami whispered with a small smile, reaching over to rub Sachiko's neck again. "You didn't deserve _any_ of this you know... I wish there was something I could do to take away your pain..."

Sachiko bit her lip as she felt Yami's hand wrapping around her neck. Her first instinct was to strike out, to stop the sensation on her neck; however she was able to resist it, opting instead to lean into Yami's hand, all while Seiko and Naomi watched in both confusion and fascination."Yami-chan... I've known you for only around a day... But you've already taken away more of my pain than years of hunting in my school... I-... Yami-chan you've changed me... You've _really_ changed me..."

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**Oh by the way! Check out the cover for the story! It was drawn by one of my good friends! Until next time my minions!**


	5. Chapter 5: A Second Chance

_**Brightest of Shadows Chapter 5: A Second Chance**_

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**Hey everybody! So I really have nothing to say other than enjoy the chapter, so yeah… On with the chapter!**

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"So you can just teleport all of our friends here?! It's just as simple as that?!" Naomi asked in both surprise and excitement, seriously considering jumping up and down thanks to her newly rejuvenated energy; restored thanks to the knowledge that her best friend was alive and well, if only just a little bruised up, not to mention the extra bit of information that she would be able to see Satoshi again very soon.

"Yup... Consider yourselves lucky; you're the first people to have even a glint of a chance of escaping from this school since it's damnation..." Sachiko explained as she stole sparing glances at Yami, who absentmindedly wandered around the room, looking around for a random knick-knack to entertain himself with until Sachiko finished her conversation with Naomi.

"Well we do appreciate your help with our friends Sachiko-san..." Naomi leaned in towards Sachiko before she whispered. "And for making friends with Yami-chan... He doesn't have any friends his age, so it's refreshing to see!..."

"I-... Yeah, no problem..." Sachiko replied in a hushed tone, realizing that for whatever reason Naomi did not desire Yami to hear the topic that was currently at hand, although that reason eluded the Shinozaki girl; at least for the time being.

Seiko meanwhile had been fawning over Sachiko's hair since she had recovered from her near death experience and was assured Sachiko wouldn't flat out murder her for no reason. Once she felt safe, she had pounced on Sachiko like a cat, toting with her hair in all sorts of ways ranging from the normal to the flat out bizarre. It had started out with just running her fingers through it, since she had been amazed at how there were zero knots in the ghost girls hair, but it quickly grew from there, eventually developing in to the situation Sachiko found herself in now. Seiko was rubbing her face on the top of Sachiko's head like a cat, and the latter was absolutely beginning to grow way past uncomfortable with such intimate and frankly insane behavior.

"Naomi-san, Yami-chan..." Sachiko finally whined, pulling Yami's attention away from the blue spirit he had been playing a game of 'look the other way' with and onto her before she continued to speak. "Your friend is... Being really weird... Get her off of my head please..."

"Um Seiko?... I think you're making Sachiko-san kind of uncomfortable... Maybe you should just stick to running your fingers through her hair..." Naomi attempted to reason, but was met however with a waggle of Seiko's index finger, before the brown haired girl pressed her face against the top of Sachiko's head once again.

"Oh no can do Naomi, you must feel her hair! It's like a pillow of fluffy cherub wings!" Seiko squealed, inadvertently into Sachiko's ear, which caused no small amount of displeasure from her, all while Yami watched with a smile on his face.

"Get the hell off of me woman!" Sachiko roared, using her powers to lift Seiko off of her, before she threw her towards Naomi, causing both teenage girls to become entangled in a mess of their own clothes and limbs, leaving them to desperately wriggle around on the floor in an attempt to free themselves.

"So um... Would you mind bringing the others here now Sachiko-chan?" Yami asked after he and Sachiko finished the little laughing session that had been engaged by Naomi and Seiko's awkward position. Upon hearing Yami's request, Sachiko stretched her arms and jumped up off of the desk she had been perched on.

"Alright, just make sure that those two know that the only reason I'm even doing this is because of you Yami-chan..." Sachiko explained, become she noticed that Yami was still sitting on the desk, putting him in the range of her spell. "Um... You're going to need to... Stand back Yami-chan."

"Oh, sorry!" Yami laughed and jumped off of the desk and ran over to a safe distance as he mentally chided himself for accidentally bothering Sachiko, although he wasn't exactly sure why; after all, she was basically always good willed around him for whatever reason.

Meanwhile, while Yami was lamenting to himself Sachiko, the ghost girl had begun transporting in the rest of the Kisarai High School students into the room one by one in a pile of unconscious bodies while Naomi and Seiko watched in a bizarre combination of fascination and disbelief. Whoever this girl was it was now more obvious than ever that it would be best to stay on her good side.

Eventually the last flashes of power faded from the eyes of the two teenage girls, at which point they looked up to find each and every one of their friends there, with Ayumi and Yoshiki on top of the pile, the only conscious ones of the pile.

"Wha?!... Where are we?... Shinozaki?" Yoshiki groaned, holding his forehead as a dull pain rushed through his skull, only to gasp in surprise when he removed his hand to find it covered in a thick red liquid that dripped from his hand in sticky globs. His forehead must have been wounded at one point without him realizing it.

Yoshiki shrugged this off however, knowing that no matter how bad the injury was he wouldn't be able to actually tend to it without proper medical supplies, which this school lacked, even in the barest form. Curious as to why he hadn't yet received an answer from Ayumi, he turned to the pile of his friends find the blue haired girl in question brushing the dust off of her skirt.

"I don't know... Wait..." Ayumi's breath caught in her throat when the glanced up at Yoshiki for the first time. With a shaking hand, Ayumi pointed at Yoshiki with the look of pure horror on her face. "K-... Kishinuma-kun, behi-... BEHIND YOU!"

Quick as his body would allow him, Yoshiki whipped his vision around at a 180 degree angle to come face to face with Sachiko and Yami, both staring at him like he was absolutely insane. After a few moments of silence passed before Yami finally got up and walked over to examine Yoshiki's forehead while Sachiko pouted in despair when she saw what was on Yoshiki's forehead.

"You jerk! What did you do to my raspberry tart stash?!" Sachiko demanded, her eyes watering as she flew over at incredible and ripped off the small tan and red that had stuck to his forehead, which had been the actual source of the red liquid.

"R-... Raspberry tart?... It's not blood?..." Yoshiki was honestly quite surprised, not only at the revelation that he was not injured at all, but that Sachiko Shinozaki, the murderous little ghost of Heavenly Host was a fan and hoarder of raspberry tarts of all things!

"Yeah my treat stash! How'd you find it?!" Sachiko hastily demanded, flying up to Yoshiki's face in order get in his face, resulting in him falling back on his posterior in fear when he realized just how close Sachiko had become; and she was not happy. "I'm waiting for an answer!"

"We... We were just searching around in the nurses office and then suddenly we woke up here... I swear we never even saw your... Raspberry tart stash?..." Yoshiki trailed off when he noticed that Sachiko no longer appeared as if she was angered, her emotions replaced by features of sadness and general sorrow. Yoshiki couldn't help but to feel bad for Sachiko, no matter how much he hated to admit it. He would always get quite sad whenever his sister used to take his desserts as a child.

"Anyways... Sachiko-san, would you be able to actually get us out of the school?" Ayumi asked warily, testing the waters with even attempting to speak to Sachiko; although it was hardly far from logical, as Sachiko had been the source of all of the pain in this school after all.

"Well yes but you'll need to do some stuff in order to do it..." Sachiko, still glaring at Yoshiki, explained before floating slowly back over to Yami who was helping Naomi and Seiko awaken the rest of the group. While each were slowly waking up one by one, it was obvious that they would be physically inoperable for at least a few minutes.

"Like what?" Yami asked, his voice almost immediately causing the smile which had previously been lost to return to Sachiko's face.

"Well first you'll need all of your paper doll scraps, I'm assuming you all have yours except for Seiko-san and Yami-chan?" Sachiko asked, walking over to the group of still groggy individuals of the group to verify that they still possessed their paper scraps before she turned her head to wait for the answers from the others.

Everyone who was able to then began to dig into various pockets, each pulling out a small white scrap of paper that now seemed to glow with an otherworldly power, all except for Seiko and Yami who merely watched the others fumbling for their paper shards like confused chickens; other than Yoshiki of course who fumbled around like a headless one trying to pull himself up from the floor as he simultaneously pulled his piece of paper out.

"Good, as for Seiko-san and Yami-chan. you'll just need to hold onto my shoulders when everyone starts chanting." Sachiko instructed in a monotone, spitting out the instructions as if someone had embedded it into her brain with an axe.

"Starts chanting?! You mean we're going to do the charm that sent us here in the first place?!" Yoshiki yelled in anger, smacking a nearby pot that was resting on a self to the ground, smashing it into a pile of ceramic shards and a small mound of dirt, although it was devoid of a plant, and most likely had been for years now.

"Yes, is that a problem?" Sachiko asked annoyed before she snapped her fingers.

"Of course it is! I don't need to end up in another hell like this o-...". Yoshiki silenced himself when he noticed none other than Yoshikazu standing behind Sachiko, holding a large menacing hammer that was covered in blood. It was then that he realized why Sachiko had snapped her fingers; her minion had been waiting for a long time evidently. "Ahh... When'd he get here?..."

"You won't end up anywhere except for here you frost vanished from... I can promise you that... It will take us back to the real world easily as long as you guys all do this correctly." Sachiko informed the group, while Yoshikazu withdrew back into the shadows once again.

"Whoa whoa whoa, just wait one minute! What do you mean by 'us'?!" Ayumi snapped, before she stepped up to Sachiko in a threatening manner, however Sachiko did not back down, instead she glanced down at her bare feet, biting her lip like a nervous child before she slowly spit out her answer.

"...I want to come..."

This surprised everyone present in the room that could take in and process the information, but no one was more surprised than Yoshiki. "Why?! You could do whatever you want here! What possible reason could you possibly have to return to our world?!"

"I... I just want some friends... I don't want to be left alone again... I haven't actually spoken to my mother in years because I'm scared to speak with her... I kept killing because I thought it would make her speak with me like she used to... But I just-... I just can't do it anymore... I can't kill anymore; it used to make me feel good but... I can't..." Sachiko admitted, grasping onto Yami's hand halfway through her explanation in desperation.

"Why not? What changed? You said your mother hasn't spoken to you in years after all... You said that your mother doesn't even care for you!" Naomi asked with a little more callus in her voice than she had originally planned, but she decided to stay silent afterwards, after all, Sachiko deserved it. Didn't she?

"I know... But I just met someone who does..." Sachiko grabs Yami's hand once again, making sure that everyone in the room could see this display of childlike affection. "The first person to see past the monster I've become... Please, I can only leave with other people, I can't by myself anymore, and no one else will even get near me... If this works I'll be able to live again, I'll have a second chance at life, but only if you give me a chance..."

Ayumi completely stopped in her tracks when she heard those words exit Sachiko's mouth as thoughts began to race through her head at what seemed to be a mile a minute. Her mother and older sister had always informed her that there were two ways to pacify a ghost, but she had only believed there to be one. The first was obviously what they had been doing all along, try to appease them through various means that would sooth their souls such as returning the ghost children's tongues.

However there was another way; give the ghost something to be happy about that engulfed even the sea of sadness and regret. While she had heard stories of ghosts being appeased in such a way from her family, she could never imagine that she would ever see it happening in front of her very eyes. Something wriggled in the back reaches of her mind however; what had given Sachiko such hope?

She got her answer no more than after that when she glanced back at Sachiko and Yami to find them laughing and hugging of all things! It was then she understood; it was Yami, he had broken through to the real Sachiko that had been buried as a result of her becoming a spirit.

"But how do we know that you really have changed? You could just be using us to get to the real world to get more victims for your mother!..." Yoshiki interrupted Ayumi's thoughts with words that probably sounded much harsher than intended, at least if Ayumi could still assume that Yoshiki wasn't about to break down in anger, which was a possibility as well.

Sachiko meanwhile had flown away from Yami and was now slowly floating over towards Ayumi with a frown to end all frowns. "I won't... I swear I won't... Please... I'll do whatever you need to earn your trust..."

"Guys, come on, don't bully her!" Seiko finally called out, leaning against the wall for support as she still hadn't quite recovered fully from her near death incident a few minutes prior. "She said she'll do anything, so why don't we get her some therapy? If we work at it hard enough she can be a normal little girl again..."

"But she's a murderous ghost!"

"Didn't you hear me before?... I'll be resurrected in the real world if I go back with this method and I'll be able to..." Sachiko trailed off mid sentence as she began to think about Yami and being able to spend time with him in a way that didn't involve her hanging his most likely dead mothers fate over his head like a worm on a fishing line. Yet another thing to fill her with guilt.

"Come on guys... We basically have no other way of getting home so we have to take Sachiko with us... Besides... Something tells me that she's telling the truth..." Ayumi explained, pulling her scrap of the doll out of her student I.D once again, letting her eyes drift across the clean white surface of the scrap like a sheet of snow that had taken the form of a leaf.

"How do you know?" Naomi asked, puzzled as to why on earth Ayumi had changed her opinion on the subject so quickly, however she was not about to complain about such a thing, instead opting to go along with it.

"I just do..."

.

"Okay... Everyone ready?" Sachiko asked, surveying all of the people in the room as they carefully held out their paper scraps nervously, letting the ghost girl see them clearly, all while Seiko and Yami grasped on to Sachiko's shoulders lightly, just enough to let Sachiko know they were even making contact with her. Everyone had since woken up and had been informed on the proceedings of the events to come so it was rather easy to set up all things considered.

"We're ready Sachiko-chan..." Yami whispered, gently applying further pressure in his grip on Sachiko's shoulder, giving her the silent signal to continue her instructions in the ritual.

"Then repeat the phrase that got you here in the first place, one for each one of you and an extra one for me." Sachiko instructed, "Ready? Go!"

Each and every person silently repeated the magical phrase that had sent them into heavenly host in the first place, plus one for both Yami and one for Sachiko, and suddenly, before anyone could say anything, a gloriously bright flash of light enveloped everybody's field of vision, blinding them as they teleported away...

.

Ayumi was the first to awaken, and she was both surprised and ecstatic with the results of the ritual that they had just preformed. Not only had the ritual worked, but it had teleported them back into the classroom where they had originally teleported out of, leaving everybody not involved in the incident none the wiser.

As she counted over her friend's, the blue haired girl couldn't help but to smile as she counted, as there was one more person in the group than had originally been teleported to the school; a girl with pale skin, long black hair, and a torn red dress... And she was breathing peacefully as she slept, her tiny form enveloped in none of than Yami's arms... She was alive once more...

.

**Hey peoples! Hope you enjoyed the chapter! Sorry I didn't exactly have much to say today, but I'm on vacation so I can't be online to long without looking like a shut in so... Yeah... Next one should be up in a few days! Until next time my minions!**


	6. Chapter 6: Fight For Life

_**Brightest of Shadows Chapter 6: Fight For Life**_

_**.**_

"Yes! I knew Sachiko-san could do it! We're home, we're home!" Seiko squealed in joy as she ran mindlessly around class 2-9 of Kisaragi Academy like she had just been through hell, which in all fairness, she had basically experienced the closest comparison of hell that anyone could ever imagine beyond hell itself. Turning to Naomi, who was silently hugging Satoshi, Seiko began to grope the hair with her hands and a disturbing smile on her face. "Give me a kiss Naomi-chan!"

"What? AHHH!" Naomi screamed as she was sent to the ground by the overwhelming force of Seiko's hug, causing Satoshi to laugh as he observed his crush and her best friend rolling around on the ground, the former desperately attempting to claw away from the latter's grasp. "Get off of me Seiko! Stranger danger, stranger danger!"

"I... I don't believe it... We're actually home..." Yoshiki sighed happily as he took in the sweet sight of the classroom. Every single day he would always dread showing up in school and being forced to spend a whole day there for 5 days a week. God knows he would never complain about such things ever again after spending time in Heavenly Host.

"So this is what they built on top of Tenjin Academy huh?... Wow... The world has changed a lot since I've last seen it..." Sachiko marveled as she strolled over to the whiteboard, gazing around the modern style classroom all the while. Upon arriving at the whiteboard Sachiko used her powers absentmindedly to pick up a marker, drawing on the whiteboard at the end of the classroom.

"Why; how long has it bee-... Oh my God... Sachiko-san! How are you still using powers?!" Satoshi cried out in surprise when he saw that the markers that normally rested on the bottom of the whiteboard were floating around in the air,

"I am?" Sachiko asked, finally noticing what she had absentmindedly been doing, having grown so used to the benefits of her powers over the years. "Oh, well would you take a look at that... That's a good thing I guess..."

"Yeah, it's useful, but you can't let anyone that isn't present in this room know that you have powers okay?" Satoshi instructed with a hint of nervousness in his voice, a sense of apprehension that no one in their right mind would blame him for. After all, if someone saw Sachiko floating around or possessing markers, then it could turn into a really serious issue.

Surprisingly though, instead of protesting the brown haired young man, or outright ignoring him, Sachiko instead nodded and said, "Yes Satoshi-sensei."

"Alright, well as much as I would absolutely love to stay here and risk getting transported back to that place by your new little friend since she still has her powers, I would much rather head home... Would you like to come along Mayu? Your house is on the way." Morishige asked as he turned his gaze to the girl that was his best friend and secret crush, before holding out his hand with a gentle smile adorning his features.

"Okay! Guys, I'm headed home with Shig-nii, have a good night! Welcome back to the living Sachiko-san!" Mayu happily waved at the newly revived Sachiko before taking Morishige's hand, letting him lead her out of the classroom, with Ms. Yui leaving shortly afterwards as well, stating that she absolutely had to feed her cat.

"Okay, goodnight!" Sachiko waved happy surprising everyone but Yami with her humane behavior. Had merely being brought back to the world of the living honestly changed Sachiko to such a degree with such speed? Seemingly it had.

"Wait... I just had a thought..." Satoshi muttered as his face tinted to a bleached white, thoughts running through his brain at nearly a mile minute as he realized a serious issue that, up until that point, either no one had thought of, or had bothered to bring up to the rest of the group. "We never actually thought about something really important..."

"What? Is everything okay?" Naomi asked with growing concern, her palms becoming sweaty as she approached her, rather obvious, crush. She would never admit it, but whenever Satoshi was scared by something, Naomi had the instant reaction of wanting to protect him, although she knew that if there was a true danger lurking around, the roles would most likely be reversed.

"We never actually thought about where Sachiko-san will be living..." Satoshi muttered into his hands which he had slammed in front of his face, although nearly everyone heard him plain as day, causing a pit to form in both Yami and Sachiko's stomachs.

"Oh damn it... What are we going to do?..." Naomi whispered with worry dripping from her words. Meanwhile everyone in the room began to think frantically on where on earth Sachiko could reside, although strangely enough Yoshiki seemed exceedingly calm, especially considering the situation at hand; something that Satoshi noticed immediately. Satoshi knew his best friend rather well, and he knew that whenever Yoshiki was so calm he had an idea. Before Satoshi could point this out however, Ayumi spoke up.

"Wait!... My family will take her!..." Ayumi blurted out, causing everyone, including Yoshiki to snap their gaze towards her in both surprise and suspicion; not so much because they thought that Ayumi was lying, but rather Ayumi's family lifestyle. If anything the group wanted Sachiko to be exposed to spiritual influences as little as possible if it could be helped.

"A-... Are you sure Ayumi-chan?" Satoshi asked frantically, unsure that Ayumi was even in her right mind. "Is it really a good idea to keep Sachiko around spiritual stuff?... Not to mention won't your parents get mad that you just brought home some random 7 year old girl expecting to be cared for just like that?!"

"You're right..." Ayumi sighed in worry, unconsciously biting at her nail which had been nearly worn down to the root since the night had started. "But I'm pretty sure that no one here can claim that their parents will just freely accept a brand new member of the family; that means they would have a whole new mouth to feed without even a small explanation as to why!"

"Well then what do we do?... We certainly can't put her in a group home, Yui-sensei has a 1 bedroom apartment and we can't take her back to any of our parents so... What other options do we even have?" Satoshi asked dejectedly, his shoulders slumping considerably as regret washed over him, his mind ripping him apart for bringing a 7 year old back into the world without even considering her living arrangements.

"...I could take her..." Everyone turned to the sound of the voice to find that it had been Yoshiki speaking for the very first time since they had arrived back in Kisaragi high. "I live alone in an apartment with a spare bedroom, and I have a job; plus I used to help my sister babysit a few years back so I could probably handle taking care of Sachiko..."

Satoshi stared at his friend as if he had grown a second head for a few moments before he let out a breath that he wasn't even aware that he had been keeping in. "Okay, but what are we going to do about things like paperwork and stuff? As far as parents are concerned we have a problem... Could anyone's mother vouch for-..."

"My mother!" Yami cried out as he jumped up to his feet and dashed towards the door without even giving the slightest warning before he was already running. "I forgot! My mother is in danger, she needs help! Dad was hitting her and she wasn't moving! I need to help her!"

Without uttering a word, Sachiko was immediately in pursuit of her friend, pushing anyone who stood in her way to the ground with her power, which resulted in Naomi and Seiko both falling to the ground, the latter squealing in happiness when she landed on the former's chest.

"Shit... Come on guys we have to follow them!" Satoshi yelled, receiving a nod of understanding from the rest of the group before they followed Naomi to Yami's house, since she and Seiko were the only ones who knew where it was located.

Naomi just prayed that they would be able to stop Yami before he attempted to face his father...

.

Sachiko had honestly forgotten just how hard running for an extended period of time was. Sure, she could probably just take to the skies and fly after Yami, whom she had almost lost sight of once or twice as she chased him through the town that Yami resided in, but it was almost certain that the moment both her feet left the ground one of the many passersby would witness the event and chase after her, and possibly even Yami.

After what seemed like hours of running, Sachiko noticed Yami making a sharp right at the street ahead, and when Sachiko took the same turn, she nearly dropped to the ground in fear at what she saw; the same fear that she had ruled the halls of Heavenly Host with for decades.

Instead of yet another street, which was what Sachiko had been expecting, was a small ornate house. That was not what had caused Sachiko's fear however; that honor rested on the two individuals outside of the house. A man stood there, angrily shaking a small boy, holding him up by his neck, and by the looks of things, also choking the life out of the boy. It was Yami in the man's grasp.

"How's it feel you damn vagrant?... Does it feel good to have the life seeping out of you?" The man, presumably Yami's father, asked in a mocking voice, tightening and loosening his grip at a rapid rate in order to force all the air out of Yami's lungs all that much quicker. "Your mother never answered me... Maybe you will, hmm?"

"S... Sa..." Was the only answer that drifted from between Yami's lips, his eyes beginning to roll into the back of his head.

"What was that my boy?... Are you begging? Come on! Beg!" Yami's father cackles maniacally, shaking Yami around in the air like a rag doll, although for a reason that he couldn't quite figure out, the gaze of his son fought to focus on an area over his shoulder.

"Sa... Sachiko... H... Help... Me..." Yami whispered, before fully losing consciousness, letting the dark veil of serenity take him into its grasp, putting him into a sleep where he would hopefully feel no pain.

"Sachiko? Who the fuck is Sachiko?" Yami's father asked his unconscious son, swinging him back and forth unceremoniously in hopes of receiving an answer, an answer which he eventually got, although not quite in the way he was expecting to receive it.

"...Me..."

"Huh-... **AAAUUGHHH**!" Before Yami's father could turn around, a sudden unbearable pain shot through his side as he felt a foreign object being thrust into his flesh at such speed that it caused him to drop his unconscious son into the dirt as he moved his hands to the wound that had been inflicted to his side, only to have the object get ripped out when he attempted to move.

"You deserve to DIE!" At this, the object was thrust into Yami's father once again, this time at the backside of his knee, instantly causing him to fall to the ground with a haunting wail of agony. Even the influence of alcohol was not enough to repress the pain that was taking over his senses, soon to be replaced by a sense of numbness that stopped his body cold. "Never touch Yami... NEVER!"

The only thing that Yami's father could hear anymore was the continuous thunk, thunk, thunk of whatever his assailant was attacking him with as it made contact with his body. He could only beg more mercy one last time before his mind slipped into unconsciousness as well.

"STOP!" A sudden cry from another voice suddenly halted Sachiko as she was about to bring the sharp stone that she wielded down onto Yami's father's head in order to finish him off. When she turned around, she was surprised to find the rest of the group, minus Mayu and Morishige of course, running towards them, with Satoshi in the lead. Once said brown haired boy saw that Sachiko was looking at him he continued to speak. "Don't do this! Killing him isn't the answer!"

"Why not?!" Sachiko growled, wiping the blood that had splashed onto her hands on Yami's father's shirt. "He hurt Yami... He deserves to BURN!"

"Because... That is Yami-kun's father... Come on... Just spare him... I know that Yami-kun would want you to..." Satoshi reasoned. After a while, Sachiko finally glanced down at the heavily breathing man, before vaporizing the rock in her hand with her powers.

"Fine... But only because Yami would want him to live..." Sachiko explained as she walked over and sat next to Yami's unconscious form, before pulling his head onto her lap, letting him use her as a pillow until Yoshiki came up and picked Yami up in his arms.

"Come on... We'll take him to the hospital..." Yoshiki instructed before turning to the rest of the group. "Alright... Ayumi-chan and Seiko-chan, you girls come with me... Satoshi-chan and Naomi-chan, can you two look for Yami-kun's mother and bring her to the hospital as well?"

Everyone in the group agreed with their particular roles, prompting Yoshiki to nod and, with a flick of his head, directed Sachiko, Ayumi, and Seiko to the hospital, where someone would be able to help Yami.

"Don't worry Yami..." Sachiko whispered as they all ran towards the town hospital. "I'll always protect you..."


	7. Chapter 7: Regrets

Brightest of Shadows Chapter 7: Regrets

.

**Hey! So if you're wondering where I've been, my computer broke, so I'm sort of just publishing new chapters whenever I can find a computer my friend will let me use! So without further ado, on with the new chapter!**

**.**

At first what Yami heard and felt was almost ethereal. It felt as if his body was floating around the vacuum of space, complete with even the stars floating around him. Surprisingly, even to Yami, what he felt was pure unadulterated bliss, completely ignorant of the physical trauma being inflicted on his body. It was quickly followed by a searing pain shooting throughout his entire body a few moments later however.

When he attempted to scream, Yami was terrified upon hearing his voice, or the lack there of; it was no more than a struggled whisper. Again and again, the young boy tried to project his voice past his lips, but this only served to further tire him. Eventually Yami could resist no more, instead opting to cry silently as he travelled throughout the void with seemingly no hope of getting out.

"This is my fault..." Yami's eyes shot open when he heard none other than Sachiko's voice drifting throughout the ethereal realm, which brought no small amount of relief to the boy. "If I had just run quicker, or even just flown... I don't know I just... I would've been able to reach him in time..."

"Sachiko-san, you did what you could for him... Don't worry alright? He's going to live through this; the doctor said so more than once..." It was Yoshiki's voice that pierced through the void of darkness this time. It sounded much more calm than Yoshiki usually sounded, which was surprising in of itself; but it was equally surprising that the two were having a civil conversation, since everyone had been wary of Sachiko when they had left Heavenly Host. Unfortunately the fear was not without warrant, as much as Yami wished it wasnt the case.

"It makes me wonder... How many others felt this way in my school before I-... I-... _Oh God_; what've I done... I'm a monst-..." Sachiko's voice was suddenly cut off by Yoshiki's, even though the latter's voice was considerably more on the lower end.

"You're_ not_ a monster Sachiko-san... Whatever you've done before meeting us is meaningless to us. You saved us, and thats what counts now..." Yoshiki's voice drifted through. "I can guess by the fact that you were able to do what you did to Yami-san's father that you've probably done some pretty fucked up things, but we don't need, or want, to know about it... You're a different person now..."

"I've done so much... Yami-chan's father was the only one who even remotely deserved it as far as I know... I didn't exactly get to know anyone in Heavenly Host before I ended them..." Sachiko admitted, or at least that's what Yami could guess she was doing. It certainly didn't sound like bragging in any way. "How can I _possibly_ be a changed person when I can do something like that to Yami-chan's father?..."

The statement however also gave Yami pause for thought. His father? What did his father do? He searched through his mind as much as he could, yet there seemed to be some sort of mental barrier blocking his way. Instead all he could see was a smiling woman with black hair tied up in a bun. He had never seen this woman before in his life, yet somehow he was still able to picture her clearly.

"Listen... It's been a_ week_, and he's alive... You didn't kill him, alright?" Yoshiki's voiced seemed comforting, despite the morbid message they were hiding. "And besides, he won't be able to do anything else to Yami-san for a long time; even if he wanted to... He won't get feeling back in his limbs for months after what you've done to him, and by that time his mother will have pressed charges... You're lucky the doctors bought our story about the wild dog... In a way your brutality probably convinced them it _was_ a wild animal..."

"What if Yami-chan hates me for what I've done though?..." Sachiko's worried voice drifted through the void of wherever Yami was floating around in. As much as he tried, he was not able to answer Sachiko however. He wanted to tell her that he wasn't mad, that she did what she thought was right; whatever it actually was. Thankfully Yoshiki did it for him.

"Yami-san adores you... I only saw you two interacting for a few minutes in your school and our high school, but I could tell that he knows something about you that we don't, other than the killings of course, and even so he still really likes you. That has to count for something, right?" Yoshiki was absolutely right; Yuki had informed him of the supposed monster hiding in the guise of a little girl, but even so Yami still wanted to give Sachiko a second chance. After all, if he didn't, then who would? Not that he minded helping her in the slightest.

After a few moments, Yoshiki began to speak again in a rather calm and cautious manner, obviously trying to carefully ease into the question. "So Sachiko-san... I have a proposition for you... You remember how I said I will be able to take care of you?"

This piqued Sachiko's interest almost immediately. When she had originally heard Yoshiki mention the idea, she had just assumed that he was doing no more than forcing a positive facade out of his mouth in order to impress the other Shinozaki that he so obviously adored, although the other Shinozaki seemed completely oblivious to it. "Yes? Why do you bring it up?"

"I've made all the arrangements needed for you to pop up into the world again... Yui-sensei called in a favor from one of her old school peers and got you registered into the international database; so you _basically exist_ again." Yoshiki's voice explained, the voice calm and collected. "I only have two conditions to all of this..."

"Ok... What are they?" Sachiko's voice dominated the space for only a few moments before Yoshiki's voice was apparent once more.

"The first condition is that you attend school, preferably the one Yami-san attends... Is that okay?" A short bout of silence followed by the positivity in Yoshiki's voice led Yami to the conclusion that Sachiko had accepted. "The second is that you attend therapy... I know you may not like the idea, but after all that you've done, we need to make sure that you won't end up doing it again..."

"Fine... I guess I can't complain... I accept..." Sachiko muttered.

"Good... And don't worry, Ayumi-chan told me that she'll go with you, so you won't need to speak to any strangers alone..." Yoshiki's voice called out, which brought a large sense of relief to Yami.

It was then that he heard Sachiko's voice once again.

"Hey... _Hey! Yoshiki-san, what's this mean_?!" Sachiko called out in Yami's head assumed to the young man that she had addressed in the statement. "Look, all the little lines are rising and falling really fast now... What's going on?!"

"It's his heart rate monitor! He's waking up! I have to go and get a doctor quick!" Yami heard, before his vision began to fade once more, although this time, instead of the eternal blackness that crossed his vision before was a small bright light. Without even giving it a second thought, Yami headed for the bright light, his vision eventually overtaken by it.

However, as he slowly regained consciousness a soft female voice, barely audible even in the silence that dominated, broke through his thoughts. "Sachi is my pride and joy... She'd do anything for me-... And you... Take care of her... Love-... With all-... Heart-..."

He could hear no more, as the light enveloped him completely...

.

The light of the room was blinding to Yami at first. When he had opened his eyes originally had was forced to clamp his eyes shut once again, since the light felt as if it were burning out his corneas.

"Yami-chan?..." A small voice, Sachiko's, echoed throughout the room, forcing Yami to at the very least open his ears to hear what his friend had to say although opted to keep his eyes peacefully shut for now. He wanted to know what Sachiko was saying. "Are you awake?... Yoshiki-san said that you were waking up... He went to go and get a doctor..."

When Yami heard the word doctor come out of Sachiko's mouth, he nearly got up right then and there, but was able to restrain himself by the skin of his teeth, if only to hear Sachiko's voice; although he had no idea why he wanted to hear it. It would be exactly the same even if he were awake and speaking to her. Perhaps it was the concern in her words? No one besides his mother evercspoke to Yami in such a way, and this was coming from someone his age.

"You're asleep right?..." Sachiko paused for a good few seconds before she began to speak again, her voice much quieter than it usually was. "...I haven't ever really told anyone this, and I doubt you can even hear me; but I-... I know that your friends, and maybe even you will never believe me... But I _regret_ what I've done you know... In Heaveny Host I mean..."

Staying still was becoming increasingly difficult for Yami with each word that slipped out of Sachiko's mouth. He wanted to jump and tell her that he wasn't mad at her, that he couldn't be mad at her, but something in his head, some desire to hear everything, was keeping him rooted in place; forcing himself to listen to Sachiko confessing to no less than regret for murder.

"When I was killing them I... I don't know, I guess I just felt like I was giving someone else my pain, even if it was just for a little while... But the pain always came back eventually; sometimes even worse than ever before..." As Sachiko spoke, her hands eventually found their way over to one of Yami's, holding onto his limp digits like a lifeline. "When I started killing at first, I was just doing it to please my mother but... Eventually... It just became fun... Fun to live without the pain of my murder hanging over my head like an axe... I never wanted to kill for its own sake believe it or not, but it gave me something besides that _principle_ to think about..."

As Sachiko continued to speak, Yami began to wonder exactly what Sachiko had gone through in order to become the way she had. However before Yami could delve further into his contemplation he was forced to refocus on paying attention to Sachiko, as her voice began to quaver with sadness. She had begun to cry in the time that Yami had been lost in his thoughts.

"That principle... He murdered my mother in front of me by pushing her down a flight of stairs and then he strangled me... I _hated_ him for what he did so much, I even twisted his son's mind but-... I really didn't want to, I just wanted someone to _understand _me... Even if it was my killer's son..." Yami then realized it, why Sachiko had such a large red mark around her neck; it was the aftermath of the murderer's attack. A few moments later, Sachiko began to speak once again.

"I wasn't happy with it though, I just couldn't speak _honestly_ to him... I'm even afraid to tell you these things, at least without crying like a _fool_... You're the _only_ person I could ever tell... I... I don't want to lose anyone else... I don't want to lose _you_..." The grip on Yami's hand increased drastically as Sachiko stood on her feet and began to beg in a way Yami never thought he would hear; with fear in her words. "I'm sorry... Yami-chan... I'm so sorry I hurt everyone... Please wake up... _I'm so sorry for what I've done_!..."

Suddenly, Sachiko froze and glanced down at her and Yami's hands. A small but desperate smile crawled across her face when she realized what she was feeling. As she slowly pressed on Yami's hand, she nearly began to laugh in relief as she felt Yami's hand squeeze her pale hands back.

Without an ounce of hesitation in her mind, Sachiko immediately pounced on Yami's bed, rubbing the top of her head against his cheek like an affectionate cat, all while Yami laughed softly, wincing slightly at the pain radiating throughout his lungs from lack of serious use for however long he was out for.

As his lungs continually adjusted to the increased air intake, Yami finally began to consider just how long that he had been out, and with a serious amount of effort, Yami was finally able to lift his head up to address his friend. "S-... Sachiko-chan?... How long has it been?... How long have I been asleep?..."

"Around a _week_ my boy!" A loud voice called out, forcing Yami to look towards the source of the disturbance. What came into his vision was a rather elderly looking man, presumably the doctor, standing in the doorway, surrounded on either side by Ayumi and Yoshiki, while Seiko trailed slightly behind, obviously distracted out of her wits for whatever reason.

"A week?... What happened to me?..." Yami was able to just barely struggle out his question before he was forced to relieve the muscles in his neck, as they burned with an overwhelming pain due to the lack of use over the last 7 days.

"_Careful my boy_!" The doctor chastised Yami as he ran over to adjust the boys pillows, shooing Sachiko off of the bed, much to her displeasure. Once Sachiko was off of Yami and once again sitting in her chair next to Yami's bed, the doctor began to speak again. "You only just woke up, and your neck was rather badly injured when you were brought in. In fact, you were _strangled _by your father."

"_Hey_! Don't lay it on him so _suddenly_!" Ayumi spoke up, walking up to grasp one of Yami's hands in a comforting gesture; he missed Sachiko's glare of jealously however, as her attention was completely focused on the doctor. "He almost lost both of his parents in one _night_! Couldn't you be a little more subtle with your approach at the very least?..."

"Oh! My apologies! Sometimes I tend to let things just slip right out of my mouth... Ah, I must learn to filter such things!" The doctor confessed, before shuffling over to one of the closets, pulling out a small bottle of painkillers. Shuffling back over to the bed, the doctor pulled a pill out of the bottle, split it in half, and handed the smaller half to Yami. "Take this; it'll help with the pain for now. You'll be discharged before dinner, so you'll be able to go back with your friends; okay?"

"What about my mother?..." Yami asked, before taking the pill without complaints.

"She-... Your mother is quite badly injured... She'll be with us for a few days, possibly weeks, unfortunately... Your friends the Mochida's have already said that they will take care of you for the next few weeks." The doctor explained slowly, being sure to let Yami absorb the information at his leisure, and strangely enough Yami didn't seem all that bothered by the concept.

"I understand... You're talking about Satoshi-senpai and Yuka-san right?" Yami asked, more to confirm that the Mochida family that the doctor spoke of was one and the same that his two friends belonged to.

"Correct. Along with their parents of course!" The doctor explained while he began to scribble down information on a discharge sheet. "I must say my boy, you have some rather generous friends! They didn't even think twice about it before they accepted the responsibility of taking care of you for the next few weeks, a trait that is becoming as rare as Atlantis sadly..."

"Well anyway... Hey Sachiko-chan, how about we go down to the café and get us all some dinner?" Ayumi suggested with a smile while she clasped her hands together in such a way that she appeared to be as social as she possibly could to the other Shinozaki.

"Okay!... Wait..." Sachiko's smile disappeared as she hesitated, before turning to Yami with concern inlayed in her eyes. "Are you going to be okay?..."

"I'll be fine. Yoshiki-senpai, Seiko-senpai, and the doctor are all here... Go get dinner... You must really want a real meal after so long..." Yami chuckled, with only Sachiko and the Kisaragi High Students were able to pick up on, leaving the doctor none the wiser; not that the elderly gentleman was paying much attention at all anyway, his eyes focused on the form in front of him.

"Alright. We'll be back soon, we'll bring you all something!" Ayumi declared before ushering Sachiko out of the room towards the café...


End file.
